Growing up
by Akiho4
Summary: This story features Bookman and Lavi as the former one has to cope with the upbringing of the later one, starting at the time Junior exceeds his teacher in height. Please read and review. Ideas for upcoming chapters are appreciated!
1. Chapter 1: Growing Up

**Please read and let me know whether or not you liked it! Suggestions for new chapters are more than welcome ;) **

**Note: English is not my first language, so if you come across errors, please let me know!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of D Grayman**

Chapter 1: Growing up

It was somewhere in the afternoon that Bookman was held up in the room he had rented for the coming days, thoroughly working on another extensive log. War never seemed to stop, giving the old historicist no time to linger. The human race was pitiful, solving minor disputes by drastic means, but since Bookman could not deny he was human as well, he never vocalized those thoughts in public. Instead he devoted his life to recording the history of the world in an unbiased, impartial way, constantly trying to separate himself from trivial feelings like love or hate. For those emotions affected his impartial observing greatly.

By the time Bookman finished the list of casualties he had recorded in the past three days, the older man noticed a shifting sound coming from the other side of the room. In the opposite corner sat his young apprentice (currently going by the Persian alias _Khalif), _his back against one of the two beds the room occupied and an opened book resting on his knees. Whatever was on the nine-year-old's mind, it certainly did not contain the literature he was supposed to be reading right now. The child was fidgeting, constantly throwing subtle gazes at his teacher, which did not went unnoticed by Bookman.

After a few more minutes of being gazed at, Bookman stopped the movement of his writing-quill and sighed audibly. "Mind telling me what got you so worked up that you can't continue reading silently?"

The sudden question visibly startled Khalif as he jerked up, aware of his incorrect behavior. "I… uhm," searching for words the young apprentice fumbled with the book pages. Then he shook his head, probably deciding whatever the reason of his distraction was, it was not worth telling his teacher. "It's nothing."

Bookman highly doubted 'nothing' would be able to interfere with one's reading, but as Khalif did not explicit his statement, the older man let it rest. Instead he prompted the boy to continue his assignment and hurry up finishing reading.

For a small amount of time Khalif actually succeeded in doing so, that is, until Bookman rose from his chair in order to stow away the pile of parchment he had accomplished writing. Him standing up somehow triggered his apprentice to become distracted again as the young boy once again glared up to him, examining the elder man from head to toe.

"Hé, ji-ji?" Khalif finally vocalized his thoughts upfront. "Exactly how tall are you?"

To say Bookman was surprised by this question would be an understatement. The sudden interest in the height of the teacher was thus random that Bookman had trouble maintaining his composure. Even though the older man did a fine job acting indifferent to the subject, Khalif must have felt his surprise as the boy started chuckling silently.

Needless to say, Bookman was not amused and sent the apprentice a strict glare that made the boy stop the act abruptly. "As funny as this may seem to you, I certainly do not comprehend why my current height is to any importance. In any case it is not necessary for you to know in order to read the literature I instructed you with."

Khalif nervously scratched the part of his nose that crossed with the black cord of his eye-patch. A gesture he often made when he was about to say something that might not please the older man. "It indeed has nothing to do with my reading, but…"

The hesitation made Bookman roll his eyes as he knew Junior would not be able to concentrate on his work unless he had spoken his mind. "But what? Either complete your sentence or don't start it at all."

"Well, as Bookmen we are supposed to be observant of our environment, right?" A small, mischievous twinkle sparked in Khalif's one uncovered eye as he waited for the older man's reply. Bookman however noted the sign of a childish act coming up and therefore reacted on guard.

"That is correct."

"Then, it is in my interest as an apprentice bookman to be curious about the height of a fellow historicist with whom I have travelled a significant amount of time." Khalif stated, a grin appearing on his young face.

Bookman, by no means taken back by the eloquence of the nine year-old, simply crossed his arms and opposed: "It is indeed an important quality of a bookman to be aware of his surroundings, including such minor looking facts as measurements and other comparable features. However, " he quickly added. "as important as that may be, it still does not excuse you from completing the assignment you have been given."

At this resolute answer Khalif puffed his cheeks and muttered something incomprehensible, clearly in no mood to listen to the elder's words.

Bookman raised a brow. This was exactly why he disliked children. They were either happy of moody and even though Junior certainly was an excellent successor (as he was both intelligent and observant) the younger one sometimes acted a bit too much like his age.

"Stop acting like a child." Bookman demanded as he walked back to the desk he had been writing on.

"I am a child."

"You're an apprentice bookman."

"I am a child apprentice."

"You're an apprentice bookman who just happen to have the same age as a child," countered Bookman without mercy. "This does not include you to act like one."

With that Khalif went silent, pouting slightly in the corner of the room.

Placing himself behind the desk, Bookman let out a soft sigh. He wasn't sure whether the increasing rebellion of Junior was merely characteristic for his current alias _Khalif_ or if it had something to do with the kid growing up into a difficult age. Either way, it was testing Bookman's patience and the older man chose to ignore the difficult outbursts of the child as much as possible. However, the boy had come up with some rather fine reasoning (before he spoiled it with his childlike behavior) which was why Bookman decided to give him a little bit of credit. Just a bit.

"My current height would be 140 cm (4'7'')."

And even though Bookman had his back turned to the younger one, he knew all too well the cheerful smile that was now visible on the child's face. It was a good decision Bookman assured his wavering mind, since his sentence was followed by a welcoming silence. The qualm atmosphere had finally return, only now and then interrupted by the sound of turning pages.


	2. Chapter 2: Only half an inch away

**Please read and let me know whether or not you liked it! Suggestion for new chapters are more than welcome ;) **

**Note: English is not my first language, so if you come across errors, please let me know!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of D Grayman**

Chapter 2: Only half an inch away

It wasn't until a few days later that Bookman understood the real reason for Khalif's sudden interest in height. The older man was just returning from a trip to the market, when he found the young boy standing in the doorway of their hotel room with a tape-measure in his hand. The first hint of suspicion came from the tape-measure itself, since Bookman could not remember seeing Khalif with such an instrument before. The second hint was caused by the startled reaction of the boy upon seeing his teacher's return.

"Ah, ji-ji," the red-head uttered aback. "I… uh… I didn't expect to see you this soon." While talking the apprentice tried to secretively hide the tape-measure behind his back, which failed miserably, all the more since Bookman had already seen the object the moment he entered the hallway.

"Well, it is clear you made a wrong assumption there," stated Bookman dryly. His attention was caught by a swift look of the boy's eye to door-case which, as Bookman now became aware off, was just slightly carved on the right side. The single notch was precisely at the red-head's height, letting the elder to believe Khalif had used the door-case to determine his own growth.

The thought of the young apprentice being concerned about such a trivial thing, made Bookman chuckle inside, but he did not let the amusement show. Adversely he walked past the child and placed the just bought groceries on the single desk of their shared room.

"May I assume you finished your little escapade?" he asked with a mixture of humor and accusation.

Khalif faltered for a second, tiptoeing from one foot to another. It was clear the boy felt busted and Bookman found it a justified development. Though judging from his next sentence the younger one wasn't about ready to admit the truth.

"What escapade are you referring to exactly?" he uttered provocative.

If it wasn't for the comical look in the boy's attitude, Bookman would have smacked him on the head. Such cheekiness was not appropriate for a future bookman.

"Watch your mouth, kid," he warned partial imminent. "Disobedience never solved a problem."

At this Khalif merely shrugged. "I wasn't trying to be disobedient," he answered smartly. "I just wanted to clarify your question."

Cleary the child hadn't learned from previous occasions. It wasn't the first time his curious and free-spoken personality had brought Bookman to the point of smacking the kid on his head and it certainly didn't seem as if the last one was over yet.

Naturally Bookman wouldn't be Bookman if he let his apprentice get away with this cheekiness. The elder never declared himself as Junior's babysitter, but solely his teacher. And if it concerned the upbringing of his future successor Bookman definitely needed to educate the boy in terms of courtesy and refinement.

"I am referring to the object your tend to hide behind your back."

"Uh," Khalif's face colored bright red. Bookman looked at him with a sarcastically facial expression as the boy tried to come up with a lousy excuse. Seeing his apprentice ponder without much result, Bookman decided to wait no longer and approached Khalif head on. The boy took a step back when he realized what was coming, but Bookman was faster and quickly grabbed both Khalif's arms with his hands, leaving no room for the boy to hide the tape-measure.

"It was nothing, really," Khalif smoothed over, but Bookman simply ignored the kid by seizing the object.

The elder man studied the tape-measure for a few seconds, after which he gave Khalif a dubious look. "Considering the fact you tried to hide this from me, I take it you have not yet used it, am I correct?"

Khalif bit his under lip. "That would be correct."

Bookman gave a short nod. A least his apprentice finally accepted the truth, no longer seeking to find an excuses for his actions. "Very well," he stated decisive. "Then let's get to it."

If it was his intention to abash the apprentice, he could not have done a better job. Only after Bookman had neared the notch on the door-case and lengthened the tape-measure against the wooden frame, Khalif seemed to understand his aim, as he quickly joined the elder man. The curious spark in his single eye betrayed his excitement and Bookman found it rather amusing to slow down up action on purpose.

"So? What is my height? Did I surpass yours?" Khalif excitedly asked, giving Bookman the confirmation the whole escapade was indeed merely to gain victory over his teacher. Therefore Bookman was more than satisfied when it turned out that Junior's height was no more than 138 centimeters, making the apprentice slightly smaller that he himself.

"No way!" exclaimed Khalif distorted. "You must have made a mistake. Measure again!"

Bookman folded his arms and gave the boy a stern look. "Are you doubting my observation?"

Knowing that there was no way to argue with the observation-skills of his teacher (after all, the elder was an experienced Bookman) Khalif made a displeased face.

"But I was thís close to beating you," he protested while indicating the difference in height between the two with his fingers.

Bookman shook his head disappointed. "Do I need to remind you that such childish games are by no means relevant for a successor of the Bookman-clan?"

"I know," sighed Khalif sulky. "Panda-jiji."

Even before Khalif had finished his sentence, Bookman eyes narrowed.

"What did you just say?" he demanded sharply.

"I said: Panda-jiji," repeated Khalif with an unwavering, confident look that matched his stubborn posture.

His confidence however was shortly wiped out, as Bookman smacked him in the head. "How many times do I need to tell you never to call me that again?"

"Ouch!" cried the kid while rubbing the sore spot on his head. "But it's true! You really do look like a panda with those eyes!"

A second hit led to another cry from Khalif. Bookman nevertheless felt no mercy for the apprentice. He had told the kid to quite many times before, but for some reason the boy had trouble learning this particular rule.

"Stop whining," he ordered annoyed. "Who knows, maybe the swelling will grow just large enough for you to outgrow me."

At that, Khalif jumped from the ground, a broad grin decorating his teary face. "Really?"

And if the boy hadn't dodged the next fist, he surely would have passed the 140 centimeters.


End file.
